A Los Angeles Police Department officer based in the San Fernando Valley was charged with two counts of forcible rape on Wednesday, a District Attorney’s Office representative said.

Officer William Alexander Rodriguez, a 10-year veteran of the department, was arrested Wednesday night and has been fired, LAPD officials said.

Rodriguez, who was working in LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division, was being investigated for a sexual assault that occurred in November, police said in a statement. In the course of that investigation, detectives got a “hit” from Rodriguez’s DNA in regard to an earlier sexual-assault allegation that occurred in August 2015.

Officials said both assaults occurred while Rodriguez was off-duty.

In the November incident, investigators said the victim was an acquaintance of Rodriguez’s. According to the District Attorney’s Office, the rape occurred at Rodriguez’s home on Nov. 1, 2018. That is Rodriguez’s birthday, according to sheriff’s booking records.

A detective in LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division declined to comment on the investigation.

In the statement, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the department would not hesitate to investigate its officers who are accused of crimes.

“When one of our own breaks the trust of the people we are sworn to protect and to serve, it tarnishes the badge we all wear proudly on our chests,” he said.

Rodriguez was being held in the Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. The D.A.’s Office said he was scheduled to appear in court at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Thursday.

Prosecutors have recommended that Rodriguez’s bail be set at $1.2 million. If convicted of all charges, he faces 30 years in state prison.

Joshua Cain is a crime and public safety reporter for the Southern California News Group, based at the L.A. Daily News in Woodland Hills. He has worked for SCNG since 2016, previously as a digital news editor in the San Gabriel Valley, helping cover breaking news, crime and local politics.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.